If It Was Him
by Jewel1001
Summary: What if, during their duel with Yubel, Jaden realised that Jesse wasn't coming back to Duel Academy? What if he decided to take Jesse's place? What would Jesse do? Requested.
1. Prologue

Hazeru - This story is a request for PrincessAnime08. Sorry it took so long!

Hera - This is basically the second half of the third series, though it starts at the end of episode 130.

Hazeru - It might take a while to really get going.

Hera - Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Prologue

The star of the Crystal Beast deck had been out on the field for a little while now, and yet Jaden still couldn't believe that Jesse finally had the card in his deck. It amazed him, the Rainbow Dragon, it truly did. He would, in fact, still be in awe of the powerful monster, had it not been for the vengeful creature standing on the opposite side of the field.

That monster was Yubel.

Jaden didn't know what to feel as he looked into her eyes again, his heart beating furiously against his chest. In some ways, he was angry - she had taken them to this dimension, hurt his friends, and who knows what was next!

And yet, it wasn't just anger. He was also amazed by her appearance.

How could he have just forgotten about Yubel? She was his favourite card when he was young. He had sent her into space in the hopes that she could be 'fixed', so that she would no longer hurt his opponent if he was harmed in a duel. Jaden was partly annoyed at himself, also, for even forgetting about her, and wondered what she had gone through in space.

Yubel had said "I hurt, I never forgot." What had that meant? Was she in pain? Jaden didn't know whether the thought sickened him - a duel spirit, one he had cherished as a child, hurt - or made him glad. His friends had suffered, and he was all for messing with Yubel now.

Jaden watched in horror as Yubel prepared to send an attack - ten thousand attack points strong - their way. He glanced over at his best friend and secret love, Jesse Andersen, and saw that Jesse was looking over at the monster, his face a mixture of concentration and something like nervousness.

Jaden gritted his teeth. How were they going to get out of this one?

While his mind was calculating that, his eyes half on the monster and half on Yubel, he heard the voice of the bluenette.

"Jaden" Jesse addressed him.

"Hmm?" Jaden murmured, turning slightly to face the other.

"This is it, buddy" Jesse smiled at the Slifer. "I'm on it, now get back safe."

Jaden frowned a little. What was going on?

"But, Jess, what about …"

"No buts Jaden!" the other interrupted, and he continued before Jaden could argue. "I play Prism Wall."

Jaden listened to Jesse's words, a look of confusion on his face. Jesse was playing Prism Wall and using an effect of the dragon? If Jesse had a plan, it was news to Jaden. The brunette looked as magnificent crystals spread up, protecting him from harm.

_I hope you know what you're doing, Jesse, _Jaden thought.

The ground under Jaden's feet began to crumble under his feet at the force of the power the duel was emitting. There was an unbelieving look on Yubel's face as she witnessed the power of Jesse's monsters. Jaden stood beside him, not playing any cards, too confused to act just yet. His mind was still processing what was happening here.

But he got that the duel was taking a turn. Yubel's attack had been thwarted, Jesse had stopped her! Jaden nodded slightly and turned to Jesse, feeling the ground cracking around him.

"Let's go" he called.

Jesse turned and smiled at him.

"I can't. Stopping now will only reduce the energy spike and the portal hole won't be able to open" Jesse said, and he turned to the other. "I gotta keep the strength of my attack up." Here, Jesse winked and send Jaden's trademark 'that's game' pose straight at him. "Catch you later, partner!"

"Jesse …"

Jesse only smiled and then turned back to his dragon, back to the duel, and Jaden's mind began to process what was truly happening, what Jesse was doing.

He had said "catch you later". That basically meant 'goodbye'.

No.

Oh no!

Jaden's mind clicked, and everything fell into place - he may be a bit dense and childish at times, and not particularly academic, but Jaden was no idiot.

Jesse was sending them all home through the inter-dimensional portal.

And he wasn't coming back with them.

How Jaden worked it all out, he didn't know. He just knew Jesse well enough to see through his carefully crafted words. Jesse had said what he had said in a gentle way, instead of the blunt, "I'm sending you home and I can't come with you. I'll never see you again."

If Jesse stayed here and the portal closed behind them, Jaden might never see Jesse again.

And if Jesse stayed here alone with all these duel monsters, the ones that were real …

Jesse would be here and so would Yubel.

/

"You'll pay for taking him" Yubel shrieked, as the force of Rainbow Dragon's attack thrust Jaden back.

Jaden had almost been knocked unconscious, but not quite. He was conscious enough to hear Yubel's words - and he knew that it wasn't a threat, not quite. From Yubel, it was a promise.

"No!" Jaden shouted, running back up the crumbling steps, twisting his ankle and having to bite his lip to prevent a whimper of pain from escaping his lips.

Jaden managed to half-run half-stumble up to Jesse, who looked at him in shock.

"Jaden, get back!" the green eyed boy shouted.

But Jaden wouldn't listen. There was no way he was letting Jesse do this.

It meant that he would have to take his place, but so be it. He had been the one to send Yubel into space those years ago, and that was the trigger to this whole disaster. This was his fault.

And he wasn't going to let the one he loved pay for his mistakes.

"I'm sorry, Jesse!" Jaden shouted, and before the other could even register what was happening, Jaden had grabbed the duel disk off Jesse's arm and placed it on his own.

Rainbow Dragon seemed to shudder a bit, like it didn't like being taken away from Jesse. But it didn't fight, it responded to Jaden - and that shocked Jesse. He was the only one who could control the Crystal Beasts and the Rainbow Dragon. Why was it responding to Jaden?

"Jaden, don't!" Jesse shouted, reaching to grab the brunette.

Jaden turned around and pushed Jesse's chest with all the force he had - and although Jaden was skinny and looked fragile, he wasn't weak. He pushed Jesse back quite a bit, enabling him to take over the attack.

Jaden couldn't see Yubel through the spectrum of coloured lights, and he was almost glad of it. He knew that he was the one Yubel wanted and he didn't want to see the look on her face just yet - the look that would be smug, having got exactly what she wanted.

But none of that took away Jaden's focus. He could feel the power of the Crystal Beast deck and he wasn't sure he liked it - it felt wrong, to use Jesse's cards. Not to mention that his own duel disk was abandoned on the ground behind him - although he had taken his deck out beforehand, and that was in his pocket. He'd never just abandon his cards.

Out the corner of his eye, Jaden saw that Axel had grabbed Jesse - whether Jesse was struggling or was unconscious from the fall, Jaden didn't know - and was pulling him back - Jaden only wished that he could thank Axel for doing that.

After all, Jaden wanted all his friends back home safe. He wanted Jesse there more than anything else.

And if that meant he had to stay there, then he would.

"Rainbow Dragon, send the school home!" Jaden shouted, almost surprised that the dragon obeyed him. He saw that the school seemed to just disappear, or teleport, or something like that. Whatever happened, it was gone. Gone home.

Jaden stood as the light began to filter away slowly.

Jaden could save his friends, his school and his love by doing this.

It was him Yubel wanted.

And he had to talk to Yubel.

They had unfinished business.

Hazeru - Yeah, so, you'll have to bear with us for a few chapters -cries-

Hera - And don't worry, the Supreme King and everything will still be in it, it's just going to be different.

Hazeru - (And no, Jesse isn't going to walk in and proclaim love for Jaden and he suddenly regains control over the part of himself that is Haou).

Hera - We'll try to update soon. R&R please. No flames.


	2. Chapter 1

Hazeru - Here's another chapter.

Hera - Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 1

His eyelids flicked slightly and he opened his eyes to the bleary, bright world. With a slight groan, he closed his eyes as he sat up - there was a little pain in his back, where had that come from? - and then he looked around.

All around him, students were laughing and talking and looking around in awe.

Jesse could understand why.

The blue sky, the ocean, the scent of the sea salt, the singsong of chirping birds …

Duel Academy. They were back!

A grin spread over Jesse's face as he stood up. He was lying near Marcel - the one who had been possessed by whatever creature he had seen back in the desert world, who Jesse didn't want to think about right now.

Marcel wasn't conscious, but Blair and Miss Fontaine were sitting with him, the nurse checking him over and Blair crying tears of joy at everybody's safe return to their world.

Jesse felt a slackening on his wrist and looked down to see his bio-band crumbling off his wrist. The blue haired duellist lifted his wrist up and grinned, pleased that he was at last free of the energy stealing device - and from the looks of it, so were all the students.

All the students were smiling and talking, some of them dancing around in joy, others running for the sake of it, just because you could do so in this world and be safe. Well, as safe as life at Duel Academy ever got.

And yet, there was something wrong. Jesse could feel it, and pretty soon, he managed to realise what it was. He couldn't remember exactly what had happened just before he'd come back to the school. And something was so out of place …

He could see most of his friends, gathered together and talking happily, but one person was missing - the person that Jesse cared for more than anyone else.

Hasselberry and Syrus had noticed it, Jesse thought, since the two were looking around with puzzled expressions on their faces. Alexis, too, looked a little worried - and for some reason, Jesse frowned at the girl. He quickly stopped, though, a little embarrassed - but that emotion faded, worry and confusion taking over.

Everyone was here, safe.

So where was Jaden?

"Jaden? Where'd you go, buddy?" Jesse called, looking around for the brunette.

And then it suddenly began to come back to him.

He had been going to stay behind. How could he have forgotten that? Jesse supposed that it was such a shock - a good shock, mind you - to finally be back at Duel Academy. What had to have been only a week, less even, had seemed like an eternity in that desert world.

He had been planning to use his Rainbow Dragon card to send the school and everyone else home …

With a look of complete fear, Jesse frantically checked his deck box - and let out a gasp of surprise when he found it empty. There was no duel disk on his arm, either. Jesse checked around him but couldn't see that it had been dropped.

And more of it was coming back to him …

Jaden pushing him out of the way, taking his duel disk with his deck still in position to duel, commanding the dragon himself …

Jaden had taken his place in that duel against Yubel.

"No …" Jesse whispered.

Suddenly his knees felt weak and he couldn't stay standing. He fell to his knees and staring at the ground beneath him, his eyes wide with shock and despair, and most of all, loss.

His cards, his _family_, were in that sandy dimension.

And just as bad, so was Jaden Yuki.

He'd never see them again.

"_No_" Jesse shouted, unable to keep the sound inside his throat. It hurt when he shouted, but he didn't even care.

Everyone was running around with smiles on their faces, ecstatic over their safe return to their own dimension. Everyone but the Crystal Beast duellist, who was sitting on his knees and looking at no-one.

Jesse suddenly wished he could return to that other world.

Yes, he had hated it with every fibre of being in his body. But that was were everything he cared about was.

His Crystal Beasts and Jaden. That was all he wanted.

And he could have neither.

There was no way back to that other world, and he had been cut off from them entirely.

What was a duellist without his cards?

How could he ever be whole again, when he had not only lost his family, but also the one person who had stolen his heart?

Jesse found it strangest of all that, even now, he didn't want Jaden to give it back.

Even though he could feel it breaking inside his chest at that very moment, he knew that Jaden would forever possess his heart.

Hazeru - Aww, Jaden's been left behind.

Hera - And Jesse doesn't have his cards?

Hazeru - That'll make things interesting.

Hera - R&R please


	3. Chapter 2

Hazeru - Here's another chapter, sorry it's a bit short.

Hera - Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 2

He was nothing but a shell. An empty, hollowed out shell of the person he really was, the one he was supposed to be.

Jesse Andersen stood on the edge of the woods of Duel Academy. Here, he was out of sight of his friends, none of whom he wanted to talk to. For him, it was a strange thing - he was always a sociable person.

But not now, after his heart was splitting.

Jesse didn't know what he could have done to prevent it, but he knew that it was all his fault. Jaden was stuck in that world with Yubel, and he couldn't help him. Jesse didn't want to think about what Yubel might do to the brunette. And then there was his deck. His cards were his family, and he had had the Rainbow Dragon for mere minutes - one single duel that had been, in Jesse's eyes, a disaster.

He would never see his family again.

He would never see Jaden again.

He didn't know which hurt him more.

Jesse's eyes couldn't see perfectly now; it was too dark. And yet, the moonlight bathed his skin in a pale light and somehow he could see his own form. He wished he didn't have to see himself. He felt horrible, unclean. He felt like he had betrayed everyone.

He should have stopped Jaden. He should have realised what the Slifer would do.

Jaden had proved to be less dense than Jesse had expected. Jaden had seemed to gullible and innocent that Jesse just didn't think he'd work it out - but he had been wrong.

Evidently, there was a lot to Jaden that wasn't known to Jesse, and probably not known by any of the Slifer's friends. Maybe he liked to keep himself to himself in a few ways. Maybe then he could do things like this.

_I hate myself_, Jesse thought bitterly, the reality of it all washing over him.

Jesse truly did hate his own guts at that moment. This was his fault. He wanted Jaden back, he wanted his Crystal Beasts back.

And yet there was no way that it could happen …

As if in answer to Jesse's silent prayers, the wind blew past him and caused him to duck his head away from the gust.

And when he turned his head in this direction, he could see a disturbance deep in the woods.

A disturbance that he recognised, though he wasn't entirely sure why.

His mouth was dry, his breathing seemed loud in the otherwise quiet atmosphere.

No. There was no way that it could be …

But it looked like it.

A portal.

A gateway to another dimension.

Jesse's heart was beating faster and faster. Was it really?

He could go back to that dimension! He could get Jaden and his cards. If Yubel stood in the way, he was taking her down. They had duelled, he wasn't afraid of her.

He was only afraid of what she might be doing to Jaden.

Change of plans, he really, really didn't like that spirit.

Jesse didn't think when his feet began to move him towards the beams of light, visible but not from a huge distance. He didn't want to think.

He didn't want to think about the obvious - that he had no cards or duel disk, no supplies, no weapon.

But what if the portal closed? There might not be the time.

And if that portal was unstable, he would just have to take the chance.

To save Jaden and his cards, it was a risk he was willing to take.

Hazeru - Will Jesse go alone? Or will their friends want to save Jaden, too?

Hera - R&R please.


	4. Chapter 3

Hazeru - Another chapter up.

Hera - Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 3

Jesse gritted his teeth and forced himself to turn away from the many eyes that were staring at him, all of them with a different facial expression - some looked almost pleading, some determined, others just plain scared.

These were his friends. But it was more than that. They were _Jaden's _friends.

And that had led them to this.

Jesse had gotten to the portal and had looked up at it - stable. At least, it looked that way, and without the assistance of his spirits, Jesse had no better way of accessing it than his own eyesight.

He had been just about to walk into the shining light - it didn't even look so dangerous here, and yet a gloomy cloud swirled above, triggering warning bells in Jesse's mind.

Before he could step into that portal, however, a hand had grabbed his shoulder roughly and pulled him back. Startled, Jesse turned around to see Jim standing there with Axel beside him. As he stared at the faces of the two duellists, his other friends - Alexis, Atticus, Chazz, Syrus, Bastian, and Hasselberry - had come up behind them.

Jesse was a bit irritated to realise that Bastian and the professor's finding of the portal had led to them coming to see if Jesse was okay and if he had noticed it - they knew what Jaden would do in this situation, and Jesse was so much like him that they weren't taking any chances. Finding his room empty, they had rushed here to see if he was here.

Not to mention that a few of them had already wondered if they could go through the portal to get Jaden back. After all, he was a good friend to all of them. None of them wanting to let him go like this.

Jesse least of all.

He knew he couldn't argue with them now. He had no way of forcing them to stay in their own world, and he couldn't argue with them endlessly because he knew that time was running out.

"Guys, please" he whispered.

Not one of them spoke, but he knew that their silence meant they didn't care what he thought, rather than that they knew he was right.

"You have no deck, Jess" Jim's voice said calmly. "We're not letting you go running off on your own."

"All for one and one for all" Alexis said.

Syrus and Hasselberry looked at each other and nodded together - Jesse knew that they had silently agreed that they were, no matter what, going to find Jaden and bring him back.

Jesse knew he couldn't stop them.

And he didn't have time to try.

He turned around again, whispering a quiet thanks, unsure if they would actually hear him but willing to bet that they would.

Jesse stared up at the portal and gulped. Then, taking a deep breath, he took two steps forward and into the portal.

After those steps, Jesse didn't know what was happening.

It felt like he was falling, and not in a nice way. There was a strong current of air pushing against his body but he was falling fast, and he knew that he wasn't alone - from his position he could see Axel and Jim behind him, and two more figures in the distance - from the look of it, Chazz and Syrus.

They were all following him. He didn't know why it surprised him.

They had all - save for Jim and Axel - known Jaden longer than he had. He knew that Syrus and Hasselberry looked up to the brunette, that Chazz saw him as a duelling rival, that Alexis possibly had a crush on him.

But to Jesse, he was closer to Jaden than all of them.

Because there was a difference between caring for someone like a friend or just a crush - it wasn't as strong as love. Just that one little word, the one that held so much raw power that it forced people into doing amazing and miraculous things.

_Love_.

He knew that people had been said to have been blinded by love. But he wasn't going to let it happen to him.

He was going to stay focused, one hundred percent at attention, and he was going to find his cards, his family.

And he was going to find Jaden.

Hazeru - The portal didn't close because they didn't spend time arguing.

Hera - So they can now go and find Jaden. Simple journey, there and back, right?

Hazeru - With their luck, I doubt it. Remember, Jaden was left there with Yubel.

Hera - Ahh. R&R please


	5. Chapter 4

Hazeru - Sorry this chapter's a bit short. I focus on Jaden in this one.

Hera - So she can't write very much without giving it all away.

Hazeru - Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 4

He didn't know what she was trying to do to him. He didn't know why he couldn't just get up and run away. Something was keeping him where he was, although he wasn't physically bound by anything. It was a stronger force that held him in this castle.

One that seemed to come from inside his own head.

Whispers of the words 'power' and 'darkness' rioted his mind.

Jaden had wondered at first if Yubel had taken control of him the way she had with poor Marcel in the desert world. But Yubel appeared to him all the time, smirking at him and glaring, and then at other times, she would smile at him kindly.

Jaden got the feeling that she had something to show him. She had as good as told him that. Yubel had said that she had to 'show him himself'. But he didn't know what that meant.

He had lost consciousness in that desert world, the overpowering force of the duel taking over him. That duel with Rainbow Dragon …

Jaden felt a rush of guilt spread through him. He still had that card. He had Jesse's whole deck.

Not that he knew where it was.

He knew that Yubel had sealed the cards in a small box and taken it off somewhere, but what became of the Crystal Beast cards afterwards was a mystery to him. Yubel wouldn't tell him - though she hadn't taken his own deck from him.

His own deck. Yubel seemed to hate the monsters in his deck. It was almost like she was jealous of them, but it wasn't pure jealousy. There was too much resentment.

/

After he had lost consciousness, he had awoken in another dimension - not the desert world that he would have recognised, and not his own comforting world, either. This was a whole new dimension, one that he hated.

It seemed permanently dark, and a comet seemed to pass by overhead never endingly. Would it ever truly pass? He didn't want to know. Was there any light here?

Right now, Jaden was left in what was 'his room' in this old castle. It was a magnificent palace, really - but not what any designer would have called a masterpiece.

It wasn't familiar exactly, but there were memories here.

Jaden wondered if any of it had anything to with his 'incomplete' deck.

Yubel had called his deck incomplete. At first he thought she meant that it wasn't complete because her card was absent from it, but soon he learned that her meaning went deeper than that.

There was a card that Yubel wanted him to have. A card that he had never seen, which she told him did not exist. Yet.

Yubel never truly hurt him, he supposed, but she made him watch things that tore his heart to shreds.

People here were 'sent to the stars'. That was how it was referred to.

Jaden didn't know what it meant, or where those people went. But he knew that they disappeared, and he feared that losing a duel here meant death. Maybe 'sent to the stars' was a fancy term for 'killed'.

It didn't make Jaden want to be a part of this world. It made him angry. It hurt to watch.

And maybe that emotional pain was what Yubel aimed to achieve.

Yubel seemed to have a philosophy of pain and pleasure being mixed together.

Jaden didn't understand that.

He didn't understand anything just now.

Hazeru - Sorry if this seems weird, it should make sense later.

Hera - R&R please. No flames.


	6. Chapter 5

Hazeru - Another chapter, here we go.

Hera - We actually wanted to have this up yesterday ...

Hazeru - Our plans were rather spoiled when the car broke down -.-'

Hera - So yeah. Here we go. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 5

Whatever position he was lying in, it wasn't comfortable.

Gritting his teeth slightly at the pain in his back, Jesse forced himself into a sitting position. He blinked slightly, his eyes adjusting to the scenery.

Such as it was.

A bleak world with no obvious signs of civilisation. No homes, no people, no fire burning somewhere …

And there was one major problem.

_This isn't the same world as before, _Jesse thought.

Jesse didn't know where he was.

But he was going to find out.

Taking a deep breath, Jesse got to his feet, only to look down and see his friends lying on the ground still, most unconscious, only Axel and Jim with their eyes open.

Axel was looking around as if taking in the area around him, while Jim check his old pal - Shirley the crocodile - to make sure she was okay.

Jesse frowned as he looked at his friends, however.

Who had come with him? Jim, Axel, Hasselberry, Alexis, Atticus, Bastian, Syrus, Chazz …

So why were there only four other people lying on the ground?

Jim and Axel were awake. Still unconscious, lying close to them, were Chazz and Alexis.

Nobody else was here.

Jesse's heart began pounding furiously in his chest. He knew that the others had followed him. He remembered falling through the portal - could it be called falling? - and seeing Syrus and Hasselberry, at least. The others must have come, too.

Where did they go?

From the looks on their faces, Jim and Axel had noticed the same thing as Jesse. Axel was getting to his feet and beginning to walk around the area, Jim was helping Alexis up as the girl was beginning to awaken.

"I'm gonna go look around. The others might have landed nearby" Axel shouted, jumping out of sight before Jesse could protest.

Jesse looked around. He had only one thought on his mind.

_Jaden_.

Was Jaden okay? His cards?

Had Yubel got them? What would happen if she did? Did she have Jaden?

Too many questions - questions that Jesse didn't know how to answer.

And his list of problems seemed to be growing. Chazz and Alexis were standing now, with Jim. The three looked grave and uncertain. Jesse just looked unknowingly at them and stood in silence. He hoped that they wouldn't ask him for answers, because he knew he couldn't give them.

It was only a few minutes - which, thanks to the awkward silence, felt like a few lifetimes - before Axel reappeared.

"Well?" Jesse whispered.

Axel shook his head.

"No sign of them."

Jesse's heart was beating faster and faster every second.

As if they needed more troubles. Now they were all split up!

"I hope the others are all together" Jesse whispered.

/

_This sucks. I'm on my own out here. I don't even know where 'here' is!_

A twig snapped somewhere and Syrus let out a cry of terror, before realising that it was probably some small animal and that he was most likely in little danger …

Hopefully.

Syrus had landed somewhere rocky. There were cliffs around him, but not the familiar sandy cliffs of Duel Academy.

He didn't know where the others were.

All he knew was that he was on his own.

_It doesn't matter. I can do this on my own, _Syrus thought bravely. _I have to save Jaden. He'd do the same for me!_

Syrus took a deep breath and then began taking long, manly strides down the hill.

The effect of which was ruined as he slid, shirked and fell.

/

"Where's Alexis?"

"Where's the sarge?"

"Where's anything?"

Atticus, Hasselberry and Bastian had landed separately from the others.

Bastian was presently sitting in the dirt and drawing sums and numbers with his finger - numerical values that neither Hasselberry nor Atticus could make sense of .

Atticus was worried now. His sister was out there on her own. What if she hadn't landed with anyone? What if she was really all alone, frightened or cornered by some beast …

Hasselberry was wandering around, calling for Jaden, Syrus, Jesse - anyone he could think of.

Eventually, Bastian stood up.

"Well, Bastian?" Atticus asked.

"It seems the portal became unstable just as we entered it. It's lack of stability wasn't enough to throw us completely off course, so if my calculations are correct, we should all be somewhere in this dimension" Bastian accessed. "However, it's a perilous world, from the looks of it, and not the same one as before. Jaden isn't in this world."

"Then where is he?" Hasselberry asked.

"In another dimension. You see, it's possible now - though I'm not sure it should be - to walk across dimensions via their connections. Doors or gateways, if you will" Bastian told them. "Honestly, we've not got much chance of finding anyone if we don't get a move on, and this place doesn't look too friendly."

Bastian had meant that maybe they ought to sit down and think logically of a strategy.

He didn't mean that they should set off on foot immediately, in some random direction.

Which was what Atticus and Hasselberry did.

Well, Bastian was smart enough to know that being alone in this world wasn't going to be a good idea, and so he began to follow them.

But Bastian discovered something they didn't - accidental discovery of a large hole in the ground.

Bastian fell down that hole, his cry of surprise lost to the world above as he fell down below, landing roughly and looking up in surprise.

Only to see someone looking down at him.

Someone familiar.

"You!" he gasped.

Hazeru - Different to the anime, they're all split up!

Hera - And poor Syrus is all one his own.

Hazeru - Any guesses who Bastian's met? ;)

Hera - R&R please


	7. Chapter 6

Hazeru - Another chapter!

Hera - From this point on it starts becoming less like the actual anime series.

Hazeru - My own plot twist. xD Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 6

He was responsible for them all.

Well, he wasn't really - they had chosen to come, he hadn't forced them - but he felt like he was. This was his mission, as he might call it, and they were all being dragged into the same mess he was.

Currently, Jesse was walking around a ruined village. The buildings were mostly in tact, though they were old fashioned and not buildings that he would recognise as suitable conditions in his own world.

His green eyes travelled to his friends - those that were with him.

Chazz just looked bored. Jim and Axel appeared to be on a joint scouting mission, or possibly an investigation. Alexis looked determined but scared all the same.

Jim and Axel ventured on ahead a little, and Chazz wandered into the nearest abandoned home, making it known that he could take care of himself. Alexis just peered into the window of another abandoned house, her eyes softening in sympathy and anxiousness. Sensing her worry, Jesse put one arm around her shoulders and guided her away from the ruined home, and into one further down the 'street'.

Inside here was empty, save for the upturned table in the centre of the room. Jesse left Alexis by the doorway and looked around, but he couldn't see any signs of life here.

_What is this place?_ Jesse thought.

A hand on his arm distracted him. He turned to see Alexis. The blonde indicated with a flash of her eyes that there was something going on outside, and he followed her out of the abandoned, empty house.

Standing outside was Chazz. He was holding a picture of someone - a human male, but nobody they knew - in one hand. Jesse looked at it and said that he had no idea who it was, and Alexis agreed.

But they kept the picture. After all, it was proof that humans were here once. Maybe it wasn't too long ago. Maybe if they found the owner of the picture, they'd find Jaden, or at least some clues that would lead to finding him.

_I'll find you, Jay,_ Jesse thought determinedly. _Wherever you are, whatever's happening to you. I'll find you. _

_/_

"It's nice to see you again, Bastian."

"And you, Tania" Bastian said.

He had met and duelled Tania in his first year at Duel Academy. He hadn't seen her since then, so it had certainly been a surprise to find her staring down at him when he fell down the hole.

Tania, however, wasn't pleased that he was here. She claimed that the world they were in was a dangerous one, but Bastian didn't quite understand.

"How can duelling be so dangerous?" he asked, puzzled.

"Well, Bastian, if you duel here, there's more at stake than just losing the game. If you lose here, you turn into light and get sent to the stars."

"Sent to the stars? What's that when it's at home?"

"We're not sure what exactly happens, but that person disappears and isn't seen here again. Many duellists have vanished, not one has returned. It is possible that those people are actually killed in the duel, but we're not sure. Sending someone to the stars might mean they are sent home. Or it might mean that they are dead."

"Or it might mean neither" Bastian pointed out.

"Exactly."

Bastian sighed softly, and asked Tania if she could help him find a way to the surface. He had to meet up with Hasselberry and Atticus. And preferably the others.

/

"I am Scarr. Scout of Dark World" the monster said. "I will duel you, little one, and send you to the stars."

Syrus gulped and tried to run, but the monster was in front of him before he had time to register its movement.

"No escape" it growled.

With a gulp, Syrus activated his duel disk.

He couldn't do this, he didn't want to, what if he lost …

"Let's duel" Scarr announced.

Syrus nodded shakily, and drew his first card.

Hazeru - Syrus is duelling Scarr?

Hera - Or will he get interupted? R&R please


	8. Chapter 7

Hazeru - Another chapter! This one is about Jaden.

Hera - Every couple of chapters, we'll see Jaden, so we can see what's happening to him.

Hazeru - It'll be a bit different from the anime.

Hera - Anyways, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 7

_I'm all alone. I'll never see my friends again, I'll never see Jesse again. And it's all my fault. I don't even know if they really made it home safely. I couldn't control Rainbow Dragon properly. What if I messed up? And I made Jesse lose his cards. What kind of friend am I?_

His thoughts ran around his mind in a never-ending circle, clouded with fear and worry. Had he gotten them home? What if he hadn't sent them back to their own world, but to another, more dangerous dimension? If they were suffering in any way, it was his fault, and he couldn't even apologise.

And if they were safe?

He'd never see them again. They would miss him, but not as much as he was missing them. His friends never knew just how important to him they truly were.

Especially Jesse.

If Jaden regretted anything, it was not telling Jesse that he loved him.

Now, in his mind, he would replay all the moments that he had shared with Jesse, when the two of them were alone somewhere. Back at the school in their own world, and in the sandy dimension, they had been alone at some times. There had been so many opportunities for Jaden to tell Jesse the truth.

He hadn't seized one opportunity, and now he may never get to tell him. May? Who was he kidding? He was stuck here, trapped in the twisted workings of his own mind. He would never see Jesse again.

Jaden didn't know what was happening to him.

Yubel had told him that he needed a card and that she would help him to get it - but they needed help from those special to him. Yubel said that those people would come.

But who were those people? She hadn't said anything else. The only people special to Jaden were his friends, and they couldn't come for him.

Could they?

_What if they come here to try and save me? What if I end up hurting them? _

Jaden knew that he wasn't the same person he had once been.

It had started with lying in a room crying, but it had progressed from there. He had stopped crying and, along with it, stopped speaking. He spoke to nobody, not if he could help it.

And the only person he saw regularly was Yubel. That is, if you didn't count the servants.

He seemed to be in command of this castle, they all called him 'King' or 'Lord' and obeyed him. And yet, it seemed to him that Yubel was in control of him, although she hadn't possessed him like she had done with Marcel.

People here were sent to the stars.

He himself had sent many there. And he didn't know why he was doing it. His mind was separate from his body, in some ways.

He didn't know if it was Yubel's doing or his own.

What scared him most about Yubel was that she kept showing them snippets of what she called 'their past'. He recognised none of it, and yet, somehow, it was still so familiar. Like a faded memory that he couldn't quite recall …

She would never show him what he needed to see to fully remember, and he gathered that she was teasing him, causing him emotional pain. She said that he had hurt her, but what had he done? He had sent her into space, yes, but that was to _fix _her. He never meant to forget her, she had been his favourite card!

Jaden knew that Yubel would show him the whole story, in time. Until then, he was trapped in the recess of his own worried mind. He knew what his body was doing, sort of, but he couldn't stop it. It was as if his mind was detached from his body. He seemed to be in limbo.

He could shut himself off from the world, and then he would feel less pain.

Maybe this was what Yubel wanted.

He didn't care.

Hazeru - Yeah, as you may have noticed, I'm having a different take on Jaden discovering about the Supreme King part of himself.

Hera - R&R please. No flames.


	9. Chapter 8

Hazeru - I'm back from holiday people! :D

Hera - This story won joint first in the poll, so here's the promised update.

Hazeru - Hope it's okay. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 8

Syrus looked down at his first card, but he never saw what he had drawn from his deck. All his mind registered was the sudden pain to his head, and then, nothing but darkness.

/

"Bastian? Where'd you go?" Atticus called.

Next to him, Hasselberry sighed and tried to rub some heat into his arms. It was abnormally cold here, considering that there was no wind or ice, and the air wasn't particularly cool.

Bastian seemed to have disappeared - to where they didn't know.

The two continued to walk through the cavern they had found themselves in. How was a mystery to them; this whole world was like a maze. No wonder they had gotten split up from the others, and now from Bastian as well.

Hasselberry was still on a personal mission to rescue Jaden. Atticus was a little busy being worried for his sister. She could take care of herself, but still, he was her big brother.

The two walked up a flight of crumbling stairs - so uneven and rough that they weren't sure they were manmade - until they reached a door.

"A door?" Atticus muttered, unconvinced.

"That's probably where the sarge is. Let's check it out" Hasselberry said, reaching for the handle, but he was stopped when Atticus grabbed his wrist. "Hey!"

"You don't know what's through there" Atticus hissed. "We shouldn't take any chances. We have to find the others before we can try and find Jaden."

"What if the others are through that door?" Hasselberry argued.

Atticus stopped and closed his eyes, conflict and confusion littering his mind. This was too risky a move to make, going through this door alone. And yet, what if Hasselberry was right? What if the others had landed through that door and they were going to wander around here pointlessly? There was no way of knowing what the best move was.

"I'm scouting it out" Hasselberry announced, pushing the door open and striding through before Atticus could stop him.

Atticus hesitated momentarily - what if Alexis was in this world? - but he decided that the best thing to do was to follow Hasselberry. He had not seen his sister or anyone else in this world. Bastian had disappeared, but maybe he'd wandered off and come here?

_I'll just look around and then come back through the door_, Atticus thought, and he followed Hasselberry.

The place they found themselves in was a bit different. Overhead, a comet burned blue and seemed unnatural in the darkness. There were tiny houses that looked like they had been raided.

Hasselberry called out for Jaden, Bastian, any of the others. He got no reply.

"That settles it. Back through the door" Atticus commanded, and for once Hasselberry listened.

The two turned around, intent on going back through the door.

But when they turned around, there was no door.

They were trapped.

/

"Looks like this cave can take us somewhere else. I see light up ahead" Axel reported.

Next to him, Jim nodded.

"Alright, mates, ready for a look around?"

Jesse, Chazz and Alexis looked at each other - uncertainty mixing with determination in their eyes - and simultaneously nodded.

The five continued through the cave that they had discovered right next to the seemingly deserted village. After ascertaining that there were no monsters inside, they had began their journey through it. Behind them, there was nothing to see. In front of them, a dim glow of light that didn't seem to be natural light. More like a fire, more like flames.

At least that meant civilisation and maybe someone who could help them.

As they neared the exit of the cave, Axel and Jim activated their duel disks and prepared for a fight - just in case. Behind them, Jesse mentally cringed. This whole thing had been his idea - he should be the one doing the risky fighting. But he had no cards and no duel disk. It was a helpless feeling, one that he didn't care for.

He had never longed so much to talk to his family.

And the further into this world he went, the more he worried for Jaden. Sure, he could look out for himself, but only to a certain extent. Something in this world had wiped out that village. That didn't mean the villagers were dead - they hadn't found bodies, which meant they could have left or been kidnapped - but it was unnerving enough.

They managed to safely exit the cave and surveyed the world around them. Another ruined village, similar to the last one, but much larger. It must have held four times the number of people - all gone now.

"Look around. Nobody go alone" Jim said, wandering off to the left, Axel following him.

Alexis and Chazz walked to the right, leaving Jesse alone. Jesse went up through the centre of the village. It didn't matter that he was on his own - he couldn't fight in a duel himself and he certainly didn't want any of his friends to fight for him.

Jesse wandered through the ruined homes until he finally came to a rather unfortunate scene.

Nobody was there, but on the ground was a deck of cards.

Jesse reached down to pick it up. And as he looked at the cards, he let out a yell of triumph.

The Crystal Beasts. They were here. All seven of them, all his cards, his family. All but one.

The Rainbow Dragon card, so recently acquired, was missing.

Jesse frowned, silently vowing to get that card back. Not to mention Jaden, whom he found no trace of.

_But … Jaden had my deck, _Jesse thought, confused. _If it's here, he must have left if. Unless …_

Unless someone had taken it from Jaden.

/

"Alexis? Chazz?" Jim shouted. "Guys, come on, it's time to go!"

"They're not over here" Jesse said sadly, appearing in the doorway of a ruined home. "Axel, you found anything?"

"Negative" Axel grumbled, stumbling down a rocky cliff, which he had climbed earlier to get a better view of the land.

The three looked at each other in worriment. Chazz and Alexis had wandered to the left, they had heard their footsteps and everything. And then, silence followed by scuffling, and then complete silence that remained undisturbed.

"Dammit" Jesse groaned.

What had happened to them? Where were they? Were they okay?

What the hell would Jaden say? Where _was _Jaden?

Conflict ran through Jesse's mind like an angry river, soothed only by the comfort of his spirits.

That was another thing. His spirits. They were acting … different.

Not different in personality, just in their actions. It was like they couldn't remember things. Of course, Jesse had questioned them. Had they seen Jaden? Were they okay? What had happened after the school had returned to its proper dimension?

They had answered as best they could. Jesse had learned that they had been purposely left there and guarded by a duel monster for safekeeping. The strangest thing of all was that they remembered who had placed the guard there to protect them. It had been Yubel.

Why would Yubel want them to be protected? It made no sense.

Unless she wanted him to find the deck. The incomplete deck. Did she have Rainbow Dragon?

His Crystal Beasts had also told them that they didn't know what had happened to Jaden, and they sympathised with him over it. It was only natural that they should understand how much he loved the boisterous brunette, how worried he was. It pained them all greatly that they couldn't offer more information, any facts.

Jaden was still missing. They hadn't managed to meet up with Bastian, Atticus, Syrus or Hasselberry.

And now Chazz and Alexis had disappeared.

What the hell was going on?

Hazeru - Are you confused? If you are, don't worry, it'll all become clearer later.

Hera - Of course, she only says that because she's so easily confused.

Hazeru - It's true, I am. Anyway, what's happened to poor Syrus?

Hera - And Jesse found his deck, but Rainbow Dragon is missing.

Hazeru - They're all being split up. -insert Twilight Zone music here-

Hera - Apologies, she's hyperactive. Anyway, please R&R. No flames.


	10. Chapter 9

Hazeru - I am SOOOOOOO sorry that this story hasn't been updated in forever. I had complete writer's block on this one.

Hera - However, we've now figured out exactly which way to tackle it. So here it is.

Hazeru - Please enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Chapter 9

After a careful deliberation, Jesse, Jim and Axel had decided to look around together in order to locate their friends, but after at least an hour's searching, they hadn't so much as found a trace of neither Chazz nor Alexis, and they were beginning to become not only worried, but truly scared. Their friends were not with them and now two of their group seemed to have just vanished.

People didn't just disappear. Something must have happened to them.

"Chazz? Alexis? Guys, where'd you go?" Jesse called, peering into every ruined house they passed – and by this point, they had passed well over a hundred abandoned, semi-ruined homes.

"It's no use, Jess" Jim said sadly, appearing behind his friend with an unhappy look on his face. "They're not here."

"But where else could they be?"

"If they were around here, they'd have heard us calling and come found us" Axel put in. "I say we move out and do some further searching elsewhere."

Jesse frowned, initially unwilling to leave here without Chazz or Alexis. What if they'd been knocked unconscious or something; that would prevent them from answering...

But they had looked everywhere, behind and around and even underneath whatever objects they came across, invading abandoned houses along the way. They hadn't found them, or even any footprints. Damn it, they had to be moving, there was no other explanation!

And so, with the constant support of his spirit friends – who were trying to remember more details but so far being desperately unsuccessful – Jesse followed Jim and Axel through the last few yards of the abandoned village, and out into the sparse, bare fields of dirt.

/

"Are you sure this was the way your friends came?"

"No, I'm not" Bastian sighed. "And from the looks of things, they could be anywhere."

Once the two had filled one another in on the details of how they each came to be in this world, Tania had offered to help Bastian locate his friends – friends being Hasselberry and Atticus. Grateful for any sort of help, of course he had accepted.

But so far their attempts to find anyone were not rewarding. All they had found was wreckage and damage and the lingering scent of despair, and nothing more. It got to the point where the two were desperate to find anyone or anything, friend or foe...

Of course, when the first thing they actually found turned out to be a foe, they regretted even thinking as much. For the first thing they came into contact with was a large beast, a duel monster of some description; they recognised it as such even though neither could properly identify it.

It carried a duel disk, which it raised offensively, backing the two into a corner so that duelling really was their only option – it was far too big and fierce-looking to even consider trying to push past it.

Bastian gulped as he activated his own duel disk, watching as Tania activated hers – with a tad more confidence than he himself did, with the practiced technique of someone who knew what was coming.

Unfortunately, that was Bastian's whole problem: he did not want to duel at all, not after hearing all that Tania had told him about people being 'sent to the stars', which he imagined meant to be killed or thrown into limbo or something equally undesirable.

But this really was the only way to get past this thing, and so, regardless of his inner fears, Bastian drew his first card, realising idly that he and Tania were partnering up to take this beast down.

/

"Hey, great, let's just walk through the giant scary door and into another dimension. Who came up with that wonderful idea again?" Atticus was muttering as he looked around this new world, completely at a loss and worrying for his friends and his sister. "Found anything, Hasselberry?"

"That's a negative" Hasselberry reported, appearing from the doorway of one of the ruined houses. "From the looks of things, nobody's lived here for a while."

"That doesn't mean that the others didn't come through here" Atticus said thoughtfully, gently pushing past the other to wander into the abandoned little house himself, momentarily frowning at the obvious squalor and upturned items that told him the people here had either had to flee quickly or had been forcibly removed from their homes.

What exactly had happened here? If only he had the answer.

Not to mention that it was just him and Hasselberry now; Bastian was gone, their other friends and Jaden were nowhere to be seen, and it was very dark save for a comet that was lighting up the sky in an unnatural blue blaze. Indeed it was a strange world, and not one that exactly screamed friendliness.

While Atticus searched the home – a fruitless search, as it turned out – Hasselberry went scouting outside. They had been apart for perhaps three or four minutes before Atticus heard the scream belonging to the other, so loud that it startled him before he turned and ran straight out the door and in the direction of the voice.

However, the endless horrible scenarios which had been plaguing his imagination didn't come to pass; Hasselberry was standing still, straight, with a thoughtful expression on his face when Atticus found him. He had never looked so serious, and he had spoken before the other could even ask what the shout had been about – a shout of shock, not terror, he now realised.

Atticus let out a small cry of his own upon witnessing Hasselberry's discovery: lying upon a spike amongst a small group of jagged rocks was a torn piece of blue material, utterly identical to the blue of the Obelisk uniform. Further inspection proved to both Hasselberry and Atticus that there were one or two left behind blonde hairs on the rocks as well; the same colour as Alexis' hair.

It was no coincidence, of that they were certain. Whatever had happened here – and it couldn't have been good – had involved Alexis.

Hasselberry observed his companion for a few moments, mentally preparing himself for a breakdown into tears or, more likely, anger, but none were forthcoming. Atticus was doing very well in not letting his emotions get the best of him, it seemed, but that didn't mean that those emotions weren't there: inside, Atticus was seething with fury. Whoever had dared to so much as _touch_ his sister was going to pay dearly!

He turned around to tell this to Hasselberry, but was frozen with shock when he saw that, unbeknownst to his companion, there was a dark figure looming over Hasselberry from behind...

Hazeru - What's happened to Chazz and Alexis? Will Bastian and Tania win? What about Atticus and Hasselberry?

Hera - And what's happened to Syrus?

Hazeru - All will be revealed, we promise :)

Hera - Please R&R.


End file.
